This disclosure relates to the fitting of enclosures to trampolines to provide a measure of safety to users of the trampoline.
Trampolines are popular garden play equipment and are provided in various shapes and sizes. They comprise a trampoline mat supported from a support structure, usually by a plurality of springs. In the interests of safety for users of the trampoline, and to reduce the likelihood that a user could fall off the trampoline mat while using the trampoline, a circumextending safety enclosure is commonly provided. This generally comprises a flexible net supported from a plurality of poles upstanding above the trampoline mat and mounted to the support structure for the sheet.
These safety enclosures are typically as much as two metres in height, and since the trampoline mat will also be mounted on the support structure at a height of as much as one metre, the overall structure is tall and unsightly. In addition, assembly and mounting of an enclosure to the trampoline is time-consuming. Errors in assembly by a user on site may result in a structure that will fail to live up to its safety intentions. To allow a user to get inside the enclosure to use the trampoline, an opening of some form is required through the net, which will weaken the ability of the net to restrain a user within the enclosure. High winds are likely to damage tall netting structures. Gusts of wind in the netting may even cause the whole trampoline to be moved or overturned.
While covers are available for covering a trampoline without its enclosure for protection during the winter months, users typically find that dismantling the enclosure from the trampoline is too much bother, with the result that covers, even when available, are often not used. This leaves the trampoline mat, and sometimes also the springs exposed, as well as the supporting structure. As a result, the trampoline mat and springs (or an annular pad overlying the springs) may be exposed which will result in additional wear and tear due to weather.
While all of these problems are well understood by trampoline manufacturers, heretofore, they have not been sufficiently addressed.